The Las Vegas Natural History Musuem allows visitors to drink in Nevada's past
“It Came From Beneath the Sea” could have been the title of a movie about Las Vegas. Millions of years ago, the city was located under an ancient sea and the Las Vegas Natural History Museum has the fish, shark exhibits, and specimens to prove it.
Containing more than half a dozen expansive exhibits, from Nevada’s prehistoric past to desert life to the African savannah, the museum is an educational and fun place. It all starts with the Marine Life Gallery, filled with creatures such as sharks, dolphins, stingrays, whales and other sea life hanging on the walls and from the ceiling in a room that is as mysteriously murky as the ocean itself.
This room also boasts a 3,000-gallon live shark tank containing bamboo sharks, Port Jackson sharks, and California round stingrays. Plus, there are numerous aquariums filled with a variety of fish and eels.
Next door, 12 small aquariums housing unusual marine species adorn one wall of the room. But the main point of interest are the various shark exhibits, including a shark cage and items such as a bottle of wine and a license plate found in the belies of tiger sharks. There is also an exhibit depicting the great white shark and its ancestor, carcharodon megalodon and life-sized replicas of each shark's jaws. Two more aquariums in this room house a shark egg hatchery and a shark nursery.
Another section of the museum depicts prehistoric sharks, including the heliocoprion, scapanorhynchus and stethacanthus, besides numerous prehistoric whales.
As you make your way through the venue, you’ll discover the Snake Pit, a large glass enclosure containing a pair of Burmese pythons named Bonnie and Clyde, who could eventually grow to 25 feet long. Modern reptiles segue into the prehistoric variety with the display of the phobosuchus, also known as the "terrible crocodile.” The centerpiece of the dinosaur exhibit is a very lifelike depiction of a Tyrannosaurus Tex going head-to-head with a Triceratops.
Fossilized dinosaur tracks (found in St. George, Utah) and fossilized dinosaur eggs (from China) are also on display. The Young Scientist Center at the museum allows guests to have a hands-on learning experience unearthing fossils in a sandbox. Folks also have the opportunity to observe a paleontology lab.
The interactive Wild Nevada Gallery includes plant and animal life indigenous to Southern Nevada. Guests can touch coyote fur and smell the scent of a badger. Another room plays homage to mining in Nevada and features numerous rocks and minerals found in the state.
The Out of Africa exhibit, featuring the white rhinoceros, lion, hippopotamus, and other animals is located downstairs. Included is an African rain forest display that utilizes sound and light to give visitors a glimpse into this unique environment.
- by Bobbie Katz, Las Vegas Reporter for HelloMetro
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